Friday, May 29, 2009

Sound Screen Design is a new product design firm located in Brooklyn, NY, and Artist Music Journals is perhaps their most important contribution to modern art books. Published once a month, the AMJ series offers contemporary artists, designers, and musicians the chance to design a 24 page, 10 inch, stitch sewn book. The books are in turn packaged in a plain white cardstock slipcase resembling a 10 inch record jacket, and sealed with a letterpressed, hand-numbered sticker replicating the artist's signature. Each edition is limited to 1000 copies.

Issue 1 features the work of LA based performance and design artist Jason Yates. Chop Suey Books is lucky enough to be one of the selected stores (15 total) to feature this title, so come in and get your collectable copy now!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Friday, May 8, 2009

A couple was just in looking for a present for their son's 21st birthday. At one point the woman picked up Russian Criminal Tattoos III, and offered it up as a cool suggestion. "That," the man asked, "no way. Give him that and he'll end up getting one of them, and then he'll run into the wrong person and get himself killed."

"What? By who," his wife asked.

"I don't know. By a Russian, by some Russian criminal who knows what it says and doesn't like it. No way!"

"Come on" she responded, and I was expecting her to weigh the probability of their son running into a Russian criminal who not only recognized the tattoo, but found it offensive enough to kill someone over. Instead, she took a unique stance. "It's a pretty random way to go. Pretty cool, not something stupid like dying in a car crash."

"Yeah, well, let him do it on his own time," responds the man, and decides on the new Chuck Palahniuk book, Pygmy.

When they were checking out, the woman wanted to get a 2009 organizer, and had to choose between red and blue. "Red," she decided. "He needs to be more masculine." I guess that's a good compromise, building up his manhood with a red date book rather than a Russian criminal's tattoo.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

If you're a big Jerry Garcia fan, don't get too excited by this post's title. We're talking about the cool kind of Dead: Zombies! If you thought the Vampire renaissance over the past couple of years "sucked," then you'll be excited to know that Zombies are having a new Day... of the Dead!

Monday, May 4, 2009

On Friday, May 8th from 6-9 pm, Chop Suey Books will host an opening reception for Drawings, an exhibition of new work by Dan Owen. These fantastic and trippy drawings are really something to behold. They are also something to own, and Dan has priced them all at such low prices, you will be able to. The show is on display through June 7th.

So today at Chop Suey Books there was a wicked downpour. When it stopped, we looked outside and this car was there! A purple 1970s Lincoln Continental Mark IV, with white vinyl roof, off-white leather seats, and a green shag dashboard. Obviously this baby rode in with the storm.

UPDATE (3pm): The Continental vanished as it came, with the wind, its departure not witnessed by a single soul in Chop Suey. We may never know if it was driven by a mortal man.

We had a great weekend thanks to WRIR, Found Magazine, Gallery 5, the marriage of our friends Anna and Sam, and our loyal and friendly customers.

First, Chop Suey Books was on Buzzy Lawler's great show Shake Some Action on Saturday morning from 11-1 to help raise money during the WRIR (97.3 fm) fund drive. We originally challenged Chop Suey customers by doubling their donations up to $500. However, this goal was met in the first 50 minutes, so we went up to a $750 match. This goal was soon met as well, and with the help of our generous customers, we were able to add $1500 to WRIR's week long fundraiser. I'm not trying to brag on our customers too much, but WRIR says that they raised more money than ever before. Thanks friends!

Later that night, Chop Suey Books welcomed Davy and Peter Rothbart of Found Magazine to Gallery 5 for another night of discarded notes, love letters, photographs, and diary pages. As always, Davy and Peter delivered a great show. Between sets of music by Peter, Davy read from some great found notes, told a funny and touching story about their mother, and shared an essay from his new book, Requiem for a Paper Bag. He also informed us that Steve Buscemi has just finished writing a screenplay based on 3 of Davy's stories fromThe Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, and they are meeting soon to discuss the details. Of course, all of Davy's work is available at Chop Suey Books, as we plan to ride with him all the way to the top!

After the show, we all drove to Chesterfield to take part in the revelries following the marriage of Anna Dreesen and Sam Vanneman. If you weren't able to attend the ceremony, make sure you congratulate this newly married couple. If you were there, please don't blame us for keeping you up late. We had a crazy long day, were excited to have Davy and Peter meet all of our friends, and couldn't help ourselves with all of the magic in the air!

Friday, May 1, 2009

For the month of May, a handful of your favorite Richmond retailers are supporting Maymont Park by offering discounts and freebies to Maymont members. Chop Suey Books is joining World of Mirth, Can Can, Creatures & Crooks, and many other Carytown shops to make sure that Maymont members are recognized and appreciated for their support of this Richmond landmark. If you're already a member, bring in your membership card during the month of May and receive 10% off all purchases. If you're not a member, now is the time to join. In addition to all of the discounts you will receive, you can get a second membership for 1/2 price. To learn more about this unique promotion, visit Maymont's website, or call 358-7166.